1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates generally to smoking accessories and, more specifically, to an Interlocking Hookah Pipe.
2. Description of Related Art
Water pipes, and in particular, those decorative versions known as “hookah” pipes, have experienced a resurgence in popularity worldwide. An exemplary unit is depicted in FIG. 1.
FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a conventional hookah pipe 10. There are generally two sub-assemblies that make up the conventional hookah pipe 10: the base assembly 12 and the stem assembly 14. The base assembly 12 has a base jar 15 as its major component.
The stem assembly 14 has the bowl 16 for burning the tobacco product. The user places the mouthpiece 20 between his or her lips and sucks, which creates a suction on the hose 18 (pipes 10 can have more than a single user hose/mouthpiece also), and draws smoke from the bowl 16, into the water located in the base jar 15 and to the user through the hose 18 and mouthpiece 20. A throttle 22 is generally provided to add clean air to the stream being inhaled by the user; rotation of the throttle knob 24 will increase or decrease the amount of air introduced into the inhaled smoke stream. If we now turn to FIG. 2, we can continue to examine this prior art device.
FIG. 2 is a perspective view of the stem assembly 14 of the hookah pipe of FIG. 1. The major component of the stem assembly 14 is the stem housing 26. A bowl stem 30 extends out through the top end of the stem housing 26 and terminates in the bowl 16. Many times a charcoal plate 32 is provided between the bowl 16 and stem housing 26 to catch any ash dropped from the bowl 16. The bowl stem 30 actually extends through the stem housing 26 and out through the stem housing base 28 to form the water stem 34 and ultimately terminate in the bottom end 36, which is configured to be positioned just above the bottom of the base jar (see FIG. 1) when the pipe is completely assembled. The stem housing base 28 is generally a hollow section of the stem assembly 14 that is in fluid communication with the hose 18 and the throttle 22. The base 28 has holes on its bottom side (adjacent to the water stem 34) which draw smoke to bubble up through the water in the base jar.
The conventional device that keeps the stem assembly attached to the base assembly (see FIG. 1) is a sealing plug 38, which is more specifically disclosed in FIG. 3.
FIG. 3 is a perspective view of the sealing plug 38 of the pipe of FIGS. 1 and 2. The plug 38 is generally a body 40 formed from a solid piece of rubber (akin to a rubber cork). A stem bore 42 is formed through the body 40 to accept the water stem (see FIG. 2) therethrough. As should be apparent, the tapered outer surface of the body 40 is designed to snugly fit within the throat 48 formed within the base jar 15 as depicted in FIG. 4. The throat 48 is the path interconnecting the top opening 46 in the base jar 15 and the interior of the base jar 15. There is generally a shoulder 44, or thickened portion of the wall of the base jar 15 at the top of the base jar 15, around the perimeter of the top opening 46.
The sole element keeping the stem assembly (see FIG. 1) attached to the base assembly (see FIG. 1) is the sealing plug 38. Presumably, this construction is used because the water stem (see FIG. 2) is metal, while the base jar 15 is glass, plastic or ceramic. The use of these materials for the jar 15 would tend to prohibit the molding of positive interlocking connections between the stem assembly and base assembly (see FIG. 1). As a result, the user is left with an weak attachment between the two (i.e. the sealing plug 38), which can let loose and result in the base jar 15 being broken.
What is needed, then, is an improved hookah pipe that includes structure for creating a positive interlock between the stem assembly and base assembly in order to protect the base assembly from releasing from the stem assembly when the user picks up the pipe by the stem assembly.